Although classes were not canceled due to Thursday morning’s snow, the weather still posed a threat for campus travel.

Cameron Craig, a geographer and climatologist at Eastern, said the snow started about 3 a.m. Thursday.

As of Thursday afternoon, Charleston had reached a total of about 2.3 inches of snow and temperatures were expected to drop to 1 degree overnight with a wind-chill below 20 degrees.

Thursday, Craig said temperatures are expected to warm to the lower teens today. As for the weekend, snow is still in the forecast.

“We can see a chance of flurries and light snow showers Saturday morning,” Craig said.

Snow day?

When the weather is bad, Blair Lord, vice president for academic affairs, must asess whether or not to cancel classes.

Lord said when there is inclement weather conditions, there is protocol to follow.

“We actually have a fairly lengthy set of protocols,” Lord said.

This process includes much discussion of road and campus conditions before a decision can be made.

If it is decided that classes are canceled, the Webmaster will be notified to put a weather alert on Eastern’s homepage. Vicki Woodard will also be contacted in order to inform television and radio stations of the closing.

Although classes on campus may be in session one day, Lord said there are instances where classes in the School of Continuing Education that are located outside of Charleston are canceled the same day because of the weather.

Lord said class is rarely canceled because a majority of students at Eastern, either live on campus or near campus, can walk to class when weather is bad.

“We have a lot of people that are already here and they can walk,” Lord said.

Students who commute from other towns, should use their own judgment of the weather when commuting to Eastern, Lord said.

Like it or not, it’s still going to snow.

Thursday, Charleston was blanketed in snow, causing transportation issues, some teachers to cancel classes and problems getting around campus.

Pete Honiotes, a junior finance major and Thomas Hall resident, said that while he doesn’t have very far to walk for his classes, the snow has historically given him problems.

“I just go straight to Lumpkin, I’m a junior business major, so I don’t go very far from Thomas (Hall),” said Honiotes. “But aside from that, I know when I was a freshman, coming from Carman, it was terrible. I would have to walk through all the snow to get to Old Main, especially, for all my math classes, it was the worst.”

Jim Dowland, a maintenance equipment operator, said the snow is a bother, especially because even when he goes home for the night, the work doesn’t end.

“Sure makes it rough getting around,” Dowland said. “When I get off tonight I’ll go home and plow snow at home.”

Michael Bilek, freshman biological sciences major, on the other hand, said he enjoys the snow.

“It’s gorgeous, I woke up this morning, looked out my window, it was falling nice and gracefully,” Bilek said. “(The university maintenance equipment staff) were actually doing a good job this morning (plowing it), it’s just coming down steadily. That’s the problem, they can’t keep up with it.”

Karala Eastin, a maintenance equipment operator, said it’s nice getting the overtime pay and she won’t quit until the job is done.

“I like it because it’s a little bit of overtime for me. I like my tractor, therefore I like the snow,” Eastin said. “We’ll shovel until every sidewalk and every parking lot is clear. We’re working until 7 tonight and coming back in at 5 tomorrow.”

Both Dowland and Eastin said normally the staff gets called in between 3 and 5 a.m., but they didn’t start until about 7 a.m. Thursday morning because they didn’t get an early call from security, who makes the decision on when to start plowing and brushing the snow.

So while some may love it and some may hate it, the weather cannot be controlled

“Take some time and enjoy the weather. It’s nice; it’s pretty, look at it instead of complaining about it.” Bilek said.

Walking on ice

When weather conditions are how they were Thursday, Ryan Messinger said students should be cautious while walking to class.

Messinger, assistant director of health services, said at the beginning of the year, Health Services usually see more students come in with injuries associated with slipping on ice.

“I think the people that fall, they may be rushing,” he said

Messinger advises students to take their time getting to class and watch for ice.

“If it is icy out, assume everything is icy,” Messinger said.

He also warns to be cautious when entering buildings. He said floors in buildings may be wet and pose the threat of being slipped on.

Messinger also said students should bundle up when they have to be outside and to make sure skin is not exposed in order to avoid frost bite.

“If they can avoid being outside, that’s the best,” Messinger said.

He said so far he has not heard of any cases of frostbite at Health Services.

The longer you are outside in the cold, the greater chance you have of getting (frostbite),” Messinger said.

Sam Bohne and Brad Kupiec can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]